Bista finger at state & GTA over school

TT, 18 July 2019, Siliguri: Darjeeling MP Raju Bista took a dig at the Bengal government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) for not signing an agreement with the Centre to facilitate the construction of a Sainik School in the Darjeeling hills.

On Wednesday, Bista issued a press release and mentioned that he had come to know that a proposal to set up such a school in Darjeeling was mooted in back in 2012 The Sainik Schools located across India are run by a society that functions under the Union defence ministry 

Accordingly, he had put a question in the Lok Sabha, asking the concerned ministry as whether any in-principal approval for setting up the school was given back in 2012 and whether there are any reasons for the delay as no such institution has come up in Darjeeling hills so far .

"The ministry replied back and mentioned that the approval was granted back on May 2012. It was also conveyed to the state on January 2015 and as per procedure, a tripartite agreement was required to be signed between the ministry, the state and the GTA. 

But so far, there has been no response from the state's side, said the reply," said a source This is what has irked Bista 

"I am outraged that the West Bengal government has denied our hills an institute of national eminence. What I find particularly troublesome is that in not bothering to sign the letter the West Bengal government has denied our brave soldiers and their children who would have been the main beneficiary of this Sainik School," the MP has said through the release 

Bista has also appealed to the state so that necessary initiatives are taken to expedite the process of setting up the school in Darjeeling The MP has also mentioned that the defence ministry also do not have any proposal of shifting the Gorkha Recruiting Depot and Gorkha Records Office from Darjeeling 

Recently, there were speculations that these offices would be shifted to some other location "The ministry has made it clear that is no such proposal," said Bista.